You Can Always Count On Me
by driftveil
Summary: [title taken from "together forever" from the pkmn soundtrack] / Ash has a soft spot for the bruised and the broken. When he says "I choose you," he means it for life. (Brock doesn't understand it at all — until, one day, he does.)
1. Charizard

**A/N:** This fic should be 4 chapters long (3 main chapters and an epilogue!) so bear with me, please!  
This chapter sort of deviates from canon in that Brock sticks with Ash all the way through the Kanto / Orange Islands arcs (for plot reasons)  
With that said, I hope you enjoy this fic!

* * *

Charmander was a tiny scrap of a thing when Ash first found him. He was desperate to stay where he was in case his trainer returned, adamantly clinging to the belief that one day he'd be welcomed back with open arms.

Ash had believed it too, at first. Brock had later cleared up that misunderstanding, and rage had replaced his concern.

Charmander had attacked him in protest when he'd tried to remove him from the rock. Scratches, angry and red, broke the skin of his arms, puncture-marks from teeth and claws. Ash hadn't noticed until Nurse Joy had pointed it out and Brock had pulled him aside, antiseptic cream in one hand and disapproval darkening his countenance.

"You need to be more careful," Brock insisted. Ash shrugged his shoulders, still jittery and unable to feel pain for the adrenaline. "One day, you won't be able to save a pokémon like you think you can, and you'll get yourself hurt."

"Charmander won't _hurt_ me," Ash countered, as though his arms weren't bloody and sore. "Not on purpose, anyway. He didn't _mean_ to scratch me. He was just scared."

Brock looked unconvinced, but he let the matter drop.

The full scope of Charmander's trauma wasn't obvious until he evolved. As a charmander, he was bright and pleasant, a little too eager to please but otherwise confident in his position by Ash's side. After another confrontation with his former trainer, it became quickly obvious that nobody cared about him quite like Ash did, and things seemed like they were going to be fine.

And then he evolved into a charmeleon.

Brock didn't want to say _I told you so,_ but… he _had_ warned Ash about the hurt buried deep within the fire type. Charmeleon spat flames at the boy and swung at him with his claws whenever he neared and refused to cooperate with him whenever he didn't feel like it.

"Charmeleon," Ash said nervously, chewing on the side of his thumb. "You've gotta listen to me. We're a team, remember?"

Charmeleon, evidently, didn't remember. He snorted smoke and used flamethrower when Ash told him to use _literally any other move. _When Ash switched tactics and called for flamethrower, Charmeleon's assault screeched to a halt and he abruptly decided that he wasn't interested in battling anymore.

Brock thought Ash was going to rip his own hair out.

Miraculously, the boy held it together. Mostly.

"What happened to that happy lil' charmander, huh?" Brock overheard Ash asking Charmeleon in a rare moment of peace. He was rubbing some strange, herbal oil into the fire type's scaly skin and Charmeleon was revelling in the treatment. "Did I do something wrong? You won't listen to me anymore."

Charmeleon didn't seem to think that was a concern. He snapped lazily at Ash when the boy's hands paused and Ash yelped, resuming his massage.

"... maybe it's just a teenage thing. You'll grow out of it when you evolve again, right?"

Wrong. Charizard was even _worse. _

At first, he was good. Great, even. Brock thought that maybe Ash was right, and that the disobedience was just a phase. As a charizard, the fire type clearly recalled everything Ash had done for him. As a charizard, he was willing to listen.

And then, like the flick of a switch, he wasn't. It was Charmeleon on steroids. Three times as large, five times as powerful and ten times as unruly.

Ash tried to hug him. Charizard sent him flying with a slap of his mighty tail.

Ash tried to hug him again. Charizard forced him away with a white-hot column of fire.

"You can't keep a pokémon like that on your team," Brock pleaded. "He's too dangerous! He could get you _killed!"_

"Charizard's my _friend,"_ Ash retorted. "Friends don't give up on each other!"

"Friends don't try to _set each other on fire,_ either!"

"I…" At that, Ash seemed stumped. He wrung his hands anxiously, chewing the inside of his cheek. "He's my friend. Even if he doesn't think so. Friends stick together."

"This isn't something you can fix with _friendship,_ Ash! Not everything is that simple!" Frustrated, Brock ran his hands through his hair. Ash stared at him blankly. "Do you really not get it? He's not a charmander anymore. This time, if something goes wrong, we can't fix it with a bit of burn heal. You could _die!_ And I can't– I won't let that happen."

Ash puffed out his chest, squaring his jaw. "I'll be okay. I know I can do this."

_I know I can do this._

Those words stuck with Brock all the way to the Indigo League.

"Still think you can make this work?" Brock asked after the battle against Ritchie. Ash trembled, fists clenched, and refused to meet his eye. "Legends, Ash, he didn't even put up a fight. He took one look at Sparky and threw in the towel!"

"I _can_ make this work," Ash said, voice small, "and I will. You'll see."

So he took Charizard to the Orange Islands. Privately, Brock wondered if this was out of spite, a choice driven by the need to prove him wrong.

But he didn't question Ash's decision aloud. He just watched, exasperated and resigned to the fact that Ash had to realise his own naïveté alone, as Charizard turned his nose up again and again, dismissing every one of his trainer's commands with a blasé disdain that made Brock's blood boil.

Eventually, Ash's usage of Charizard diminished, and on the few occasions when he attempted to utilise the fire type, he was quickly reminded of why he'd stopped.

"Ash–" Brock tried after the match with Danny, but Ash wouldn't listen.

"I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled, stalking away.

Brock had never seen him so dejected. Still, Charizard remained a part of the team, his ball a heavy weight on Ash's belt, mocking them all with its presence. If it burdened Ash at all, the boy did a remarkable job of concealing the strain.

"Nobody would blame you for admitting that he's too much," Brock attempted days later, watching Ash glumly fiddle with Charizard's poké ball as though contemplating throwing it away. "There are experienced trainers out there who could handle him."

Ash sighed deeply, looking lost. "Yeah, but then I'd be just as bad as his _old_ trainer. Abandoning him because he's not who I want him to be."

And then Brock understood. "Ash… you know that's how trainers _are,_ right? The successful ones, anyway."

Ash flinched. Brock continued in a firm, pressing tone. "Maybe not so crude as to abandon a charmander without care for its well being, but if a pokémon can't keep up with its trainers expectations, it's out. Only the strong can survive in the competitive scene — it's why so few trainers make it to the top. I'm not saying what Charizard's old trainer was _right_ to abandon him, but he isn't an isolated case."

"But why do _I_ have to do the same? Why can't I be a pokémon master _without_ that?"

"I'm not saying you _can't._ I'm just saying that all your role models, every great trainer you've ever looked up to — they all have a standard that their pokémon must meet to stay on their team. And if they _don't–"_

"They're thrown away, yeah, I get it." Ash scowled. "What about you? Have you ever abandoned a pokémon because it wasn't good enough for you?"

Brock blanched, silent and scrabbling for a defence. Then– "... No. My father tried, once, to get me to give up a geodude I'd been training because its long range attacks were useless and its defences weren't up to scratch. I refused, he got mad and we argued for days. Eventually, I benched the geodude, but I didn't abandon it. It's still at the gym, even now."

Ash played with the catch on Charizard's ball and was quiet. Brock drummed his fingers against his knee, deep in contemplation.

Finally, a solution came to him. "If you can't give Charizard up, then why not just bench him? That way, you're safe and Charizard doesn't feel like he's been abandoned again."

Ash seemed dubious, regarding Brock cautiously. "Because… because that's not where he's meant to be. He's _meant_ to battle, I know it, he just… doesn't want to listen right now. But he will, I know he will. I just need to show him that we're on the same side."

His master plan, apparently, was to pit Charizard in their next battle — a duel against the poliwrath of a trainer named Tad — after being bolstered by the evidence provided by Pikachu's defeat that type matchups didn't always matter when it came to fighting. Brock found his logic to be naïvely endearing, if not hopelessly misguided. If Tad's poliwrath could so easily handle a cooperative electric type, then why would Ash believe that a disobedient fire type would be any harder for it to overpower?

Charizard, predictably, did as he pleased, heedless of Ash's desperate attempts to control him. His gratuitous use of flamethrower irrespective of Ash's commands confirmed his refusal to obey — and he went down to an ice beam, as though the situation couldn't get any more humiliating.

Ash freed him from the ice with a jagged rock, palms slippery with blood. He paused just long enough for Brock to bandage his hands and sat through the night by Charizard's side, tending a campfire and working to keep the fire type's temperature from plummeting too low.

"You always do this," he mumbled, rubbing Charizard's cool flank with a heated towel. "If you'd have _listened,_ maybe– maybe we could've won that battle. You're strong… you can take a _poliwrath._ I know you can."

Brock lay awake and listened. Ash kept talking.

"I wish… I wish you'd trust me more. I know I'm not the best trainer in the world… sometimes I get things wrong. Okay– I get things wrong a _lot._ But… I'm learning, and I'm getting better, and… I'm stronger than I was when we met and you listened back then!

"It's like… it's like I'm not good enough anymore. And I don't know what I've got to do to _be_ good enough for you. Because I want to be, and I'm trying to be. I just– I don't know anymore. Sometimes I wonder if you'd be better off without me. You'd tell me if you wanted to go, right? You're not just staying 'cause you think you have to?"

Ash bowed his head and threw another stick into the fire. It crackled and roared, spitting embers into the night sky.

"I just wanna be your friend."

The next morning, when Team Rocket attacked camp, Charizard rose to protect Pikachu. He pulled the poachers' getaway machine from underground and reared up, flames curling on his tongue, to burn them—

"Charizard, no! You'll hurt Pikachu!" Ash cried.

And just like that, Charizard stopped.

Ash gave commands; Charizard obeyed them. Brock presumed that it was an expression of gratitude for the night before, a one-time show of compliance. An eye for an eye; a favour for a favour.

Confidence renewed by the sudden change in behaviour, Ash challenged Tad a second time. Again, Ash gave commands; again, Charizard obeyed them, and the poliwrath was finished with a seismic toss.

Overwhelmed with glee, Ash lunged at Charizard, flinging his arms around him. Brock held his breath — and Charizard craned his neck, pushing his massive head into his trainer's embrace and rumbling contentedly.

"That charizard of yours is _really_ strong," Tad admitted, recalling his fainted pokémon. "I had a feeling it would be once you started working together. What changed?"

"I dunno," Ash said happily, scratching Charizard behind the horns. The fire type warbled, eyes shut.

Later, when Tad had left, Charizard blew fire in Ash's direction as punishment for nearly knocking him over — but it felt different. Controlled, deliberately aimed so that Ash wouldn't have to dodge to avoid being scorched.

"Careful," Brock said anyway. "You don't want to make him angry now you've finally gotten in his good books else you'll end up getting burned."

"I can handle the heat," Ash said confidently, and for the first time, Brock believed him.

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**A/N: **Reviews/comments are always appreciated! I try to take all constructive criticism into account so I can improve any future writing I do. :)


	2. Infernape

**A/N:** Chapter 2 is up (as well as the epilogue of chapter 1)! I hope you continue to enjoy!

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_**CHARIZARD****_ — EPILOGUE_.**_

"_You're a real weakling, y'know?" Ash spat, and time stood still. _

_Charizard crooned at his trainer's back, features soft and open. Brock hadn't seen the pokémon look so vulnerable since he was a charmander, barely clinging to life under a torrential downpour. _

"_Ash…" Brock breathed, confused and questioning._

"_He is!" At that, Charizard warbled in protest. "You are! Can't even…" Ash trailed off. "You need to train. Get stronger! Prove to me you deserve to be on my team!" He tugged his hat down low, as though anybody could see his face. As though it hid the broken tremor in his voice. "Good for nothing…" Something inside him snapped. He scrubbed his face with his hands and sighed. "You'll do it for me, won't you? Become the most powerful charizard in the world? So— so none of these ones will ever be a problem for you. Right?"_

_Something hardened in Charizard's eyes. He stretched his wings, smoke puffing in rings from his nostrils. _

"_Well– don't just stand there! Go! I'm leaving now — and you better not follow me! I don't want to see you again until you're stronger."_

_Silence. Brock hadn't thought Charizard capable of such conflicting emotion, pain warring with resignation, anxiety wrestling with excitement._

_Ash didn't give the fire type time to process. "Goodbye!"_

_And he broke out into a run, leaving Charizard — and Brock, and Misty, and _Pikachu — _behind. _

"_What the hell was that about?" Brock demanded once they caught up with him, cornering him, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him when he refused to look up. "Don't you think you could've been nicer about it?"_

_Ash peered at him, face wet, taking deep, shuddering, gulping breaths. "I– I had to," he mumbled, swaying into Brock numbly. "Char– Charizard understands. He knows… he knows what I meant. It'll do him good, the– the valley. The charizard there are stronger than him, stronger than I can make him. And he _wants _to get strong. He'll be happier there."_

_Brock squinted suspiciously. "Couldn't you have been– I don't know– a little less _harsh? _After everything you and Charizard have been through, everything you've done for him, you–"_

"_I know– I know," Ash agreed weakly. "But this… he wouldn't have left otherwise. If I'd been… less sure. He'd have– he'd not have wanted to leave me. But he knows I can handle it– handle things without him. He won't be mad. He gets it."_

"_I hope so," Brock sighed, and the two went to help Misty set up camp for the night._

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO — INFERNAPE.**

"Chimchar, you need to rest!"

Chimchar didn't seem to think so. _Paul_ certainly didn't. Whether the former's conviction was out of a need to please the latter was beyond Brock, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Chimchar was only still standing because he feared what would happen to him if he fell.

Ash bared his teeth, body tense with frustration. "Turtwig," he said pleadingly, "protect Chimchar through this battle!"

The plan fell through within minutes.

"I can't believe it!" the announcer roared over the comms, barely audible over the frenzied crowd. "It seems as though Chimchar is attacking its teammate!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ash snapped. Turtwig, trembling, fought to stay standing, body blackened and charred. "We're meant to be a _team!"_

"If your turtwig can't take _one_ hit, then it's useless," Paul retorted. "Just stay out of my way!"

Paul battled without regard for who stood in his way, friend or foe. If Turtwig was in the path of Chimchar's flame wheel — well, that was Ash's problem, not his. And if Chimchar flinched under the opponent's zangoose's powerful claws–

Then he wasn't worth training.

/

"Hey, Chimchar," Ash said, holding out his hand. "Wanna come with me?"

Brock paused. Turned, slowly, to face Ash. Paul, metres away, mimicked him, expression perplexed and angry.

"I think you're really strong," Ash continued, "and smart, and brave, and loyal. You saved Turtwig in that last battle! We wouldn't have won without you." His eyes were bright and earnest; Brock's stomach plummeted. "You're the kind of pokémon I want on my team. Whaddaya say?"

Chimchar — after a brief altercation with Team Rocket, who were as terrible at their job as they'd been back in Kanto — agreed with a resounding "_Char!"_ and Brock's stomach somehow plummeted even further.

They were older now, bruised by three regions. Ash was more soldier than child now, something cold behind the light in his eyes.

That didn't mean Brock didn't worry. No child was meant to be so resigned to his own fate, no matter how giddy he seemed in daylight.

He pulled Ash aside the minute he could, dragging him bodily out of earshot and pushing him against a tree.

"Are you _kidding?"_he hissed. Ash blinked rapidly, vapid. "Do you not remember what happened the _last_ time you took in someone's discarded pokémon?"

"He helped me win lots of battles and became one of my best friends?"

"_Before_ that. Don't act stupid, Ash, you know what I'm talking about."

Ash studied his arms, quietly mapping the scars. Bite marks, scratches, minor burns. Permanent reminders of his inability to know when to quit.

"Chimchar has suffered a lot more than what Charizard _ever_ did. If any pokémon ever had a reason to freak out on you, it'd be him. I know I said it before–"

"– and I was fine in the end," Ash muttered stubbornly. Brock glowered as best he could.

"– but he could get you _killed,_ Ash. This isn't just a bite or an ember — this is a genuinely dangerous pokémon with an ability that makes him go _berserk!_ Whatever Paul was trying to replicate — that's not something an ordinary person can handle."

"I'm not an ordinary person," Ash pointed out. Silenced, Brock folded his arms over his chest.

"I'm not an ordinary person," Ash repeated, "and I've handled way worse than a chimchar. And I'm _not_ giving him up. I didn't abandon Charizard and I'm not abandoning him! That might be Paul's style, it might be Charizard's old trainer's style, but it's not mine."

Brock recognised that tone. It was the self-righteous, noble _I've died before and I'm no longer afraid of anything _voice. It was a bluff, but it was impossible to reason with. Ash had a nasty habit of wanting to fix every broken thing he saw — Brock couldn't change his mind.

"You're not going to listen to me, are you?" he said, voice gentler. Fond, almost, despite his resignation.

"Nope. I know what I'm doing, I promise."

So Brock relented. Chimchar was a quiet, obedient little thing who clung to every scrap of kindness thrown his way. Something as simple as the otherwise monotonous routine of preparing a meal became a luxury, and Brock used Dawn's confusion to distract himself from Chimchar's exhausted sobbing.

"Chimchar's never been allowed to just _feel_ before," he explained to the girl at his side. "To finally have a trainer who cares for him, and after everything that's happened to him… sometimes you've just gotta let it all out."

"Poor lil guy," Dawn sighed, hugging Piplup close. "At least he's got Ash now, right? He deserves to feel loved."

"Yeah," Brock mumbled begrudgingly, tactfully omitting the _I guess._ "He does."

After that, he made a point of leaving Ash to his own devices. Even when Chimchar lost his mind in a battle against Paul's ursaring and gave Ash nasty burn scars in the middle of a rampage, sinking his teeth into his trainer's shoulder and leaving puncture wounds that _wouldn't stop bleeding,_ Brock stayed quiet. And if his hands shook as he patched Ash up–

Well, that was his problem, not anybody else's.

Ash, being Ash, didn't recognise the severity of the situation. Chimchar avoided him for days afterwards, guilty and skittish — Ash seemed stumped, as though his arm wasn't in a sling and he didn't walk with a pronounced, shuffling limp.

"He's scared because he's dangerous," Brock pointed out one evening, if only to end Ash's perplexed misery.

"But I'm fine," he replied, "and I'm not mad, so why should he be?"

"Maybe because if you keep running headfirst into blaze, you just might suffer worse than a few bite marks. Ash–"

"I get it, Brock," Ash chirped, eyes bright and strangely cheerful. Brock stared, stupefied. "But that doesn't change anything. He's my partner, and he's earned his place here as much as anyone else. I'm not gonna let a setback like this ruin everything."

"Yeah, great," Brock grumbled. "Doesn't change the fact that he goes crazy under pressure."

"We'll work on it," Ash said agreeably, nudging him with his shoulder. "And hey. At least he listens _most_ of the time. That's better than what Charizard was doing at this point, right?"

_Charizard. _As a charmeleon, he'd been a wild and indomitable spirit. Chimchar, no matter how ferocious when fired-up — pun intended — by his ability, remained subservient so long as blaze was inactive. Brock bit out a laugh. "Mm," he agreed, "I suppose so. Just… promise me you won't do anything reckless, okay?"

They both knew Ash couldn't. It was as much his nature to leap into the thick of danger as it was a talonflame's to fly, or a sandshrew's to dig.

He hummed his agreement anyway.

Reconciliation was inevitable, though. Ash was never one to sit and let things fix themselves; he was a doer, impatient and well-meaning. He coaxed Chimchar out of his self-imposed isolation and combed his fingers through the tuft of fur on the fire type's head, and if his shoulder ached under Chimchar's grip, then he refused to let it show.

"I dunno what Paul used to tell you, but it was all wrong, y'know?" he said. "I think you're great. You're super strong, you work harder than anybody else I know… so what if you can't control blaze yet? You'll get there, I know it!"

Chimchar sniffed guiltily. Ash plucked quietly at the hem of his shirt, deep in thought. Then–

"Hey, have I ever told you about Charizard?" At Chimchar's questioning look, Ash launched into a dramatic retelling of his journeys through Kanto, the Orange Islands and Johto, equipped with sound effects and exaggerated re-enactments of otherwise mundane events — not that there was anything mundane about Ash and his adventures.

By the end, Chimchar seemed to have returned to his typical, optimistic self, eyes burning with a renewed excitement for his future, and Brock resumed his vow of silence on the fire type's presence. Blaze became a diminishing issue as time passed, and when it evolved into a monferno mid-battle against Paul, the problem seemed to disappear entirely. Monferno's anger manifested as an energetic tail-flame, but blaze failed to activate irrespective of the damage dealt by Paul's electabuzz.

"Maybe he's grown out of it?" Dawn asked after the match.

"Maybe," Brock agreed dubiously.

Weeks later, a battle against Barry and his empoleon triggered another rampage. Team Rocket's intervention barely provided a distraction; Ash tried, largely in vain, to prevent Monferno from hurting anybody, but if the pokémon heard him, then he didn't think to obey. He lunged at Team Rocket; they were sent flying; and without them, their mecha creaked and slumped, pressing heavily on Paul's electabuzz's protect;

"Ash, it's too dangerous!" Brock yelled, trapped inside one of Team Rocket's spherical contraptions. Ash struggled against Monferno's claws, teeth and flames regardless, clinging onto him desperately.

"Don't you remember the promise we made?" he begged. Red stained his shirt, skin torn and blistering. Monferno thrashed and screamed, eyes glassy and unseeing. "We said we were gonna get stronger together! I know you can control this!"

Ash's words did little to calm Monferno — if anything, they only served to whip him into a higher state of frenzy. Brock pounded uselessly against the barrier separating him from Ash and watched, helpless, as Electabuzz's protect shattered, the mecha collapsed towards it, and Monferno–

Monferno _evolved._

/

"Hey, Paul," Ash called, stopping the boy in his tracks. Infernape clenched and unclenched his fists, countenance bright with an emotion Brock couldn't quite discern. "Thanks for helping us back there. Without your electabuzz…" he trailed off. Paul remained silent, back turned. "You should battle me and Infernape someday. Now he's fully evolved, we can show you just how strong he really is!"

Paul scuffed his shoe and said nothing for the longest time. "My brother wants to see us battle again, at our full strengths. At the Sinnoh League."

Ash's eyes widened.

"That's where I'll face Infernape."

Infernape brandished his fists with a cry and Ash grinned, buzzing with new determination. "Alright," he said, barely leashing his excitement. "Let's meet at the Sinnoh League!"

But Paul was already stalking away. Something uncertain flickered in Ash's gaze, jaw tight.

_He looks so much older,_ Brock realised suddenly. Like a soldier, world-weary but still fighting.

"You need to show him how much stronger your pokémon have become since the last full battle," he said. Ash turned to him with a small smile.

"You _can't_ lose this time, Ash!" Dawn added, ever the optimist.

"Yeah," Ash agreed, bouncing on the balls of his heels. "With Infernape by my side, I'll be unstoppable."

_He's my partner, and he's earned his place here as much as anyone else._

"I don't doubt it," Brock said, and he meant it.

* * *

**A/N: **Reviews/comments are always appreciated! I try to take all constructive criticism into account so I can improve any future writing I do. :)


	3. Tepig

**A/N:** Chapter 3 (and chapter 2's epilogue) are up! Again, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

_**INFERNAPE — EPILOGUE.**_

"_And Infernape is DOWN!" the announcer howled, voice high with excitement. Infernape hit the dirt _hard, _dust erupting in clouds around him."That electivire is a _real _powerhouse — I'd not want to be on the receiving end of one of those thunders! We could feel it all the way up in the stands! Is this the end for Ash Ketchum?"_

_Infernape's body convulsed, fingers twitching, and then he was still. Ash could barely hear the crowd over the pounding of blood in his ears. Infernape was down. Infernape was _down. _Maybe he'd misjudged. Maybe Electivire was too strong after all. Maybe–_

"_C'mon, Infernape," he whispered. "Get up. You can do it, I know you can."_

"_Is that it?" he heard Paul sneer. "You really _are _weak. You disappoint me time after time — to think I actually hoped you'd be stronger now. Guess I was wrong."_

_Ash watched, heart heavy, as the referee stepped towards Infernape, flag at half mast. _

"_Infernape i–" he began, but Electivire extended an arm in his direction, cutting him off. _

"_Vire! Electivire!" The hulking electric type turned on Infernape, taunting him with a wagging finger. "Electi– _vire! _Electivire!"_

"_Give it up, Electivire," Paul snorted. "There's no way–"_

_Infernape's eyes refocused. Ash felt it deep in his bones, an ancient fire diffusing through his veins. It felt like rebirth, like dying all over again. Like the beginning of the end._

"_Not yet," he snarled, grinning at Paul. "We're not done yet!"_

_Infernape screamed, crown twisting into a column of burning flame. The ground trembled with it, a rage that dug into Ash's core. Distantly, he was aware of the announcers shouting over the comms, of the thunderous howls of the crowd. _

_None of that mattered. Infernape was _awake, _heart beating in sync with his trainer's. They'd never felt more alive. _

"_Infernape," Ash yelled, but his eyes were on his rival. "It's time to show Paul how strong you've become!"_

_The flamethrower that followed blazed hotter than the sun, and all the battlefield burned with it. _

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE — TEPIG.**

Since joining Ash on his travels back in Kanto, Brock had scarcely left his side, save for their brief vacations from journeying about the world. From gym leader to wannabe breeder to budding doctor, his goal in life had leapt to and fro unpredictably; every new experience brought with it a new dream, even as Ash stayed steadfast and unwavering. He powered through a region, battled fiercely through its league and spent barely two months at home before being struck by wanderlust.

It was only on that fifth new region — six, if he was counting by leagues and included the Orange Islands — that it occurred to him that such a hectic, impermanent lifestyle wasn't for him. Not for now, anyway. If he truly wanted to become a doctor, he couldn't explore new places in the shadow of a child.

So when Ash said he was going to Unova, Brock said he'd have to be left behind. Ash had wrestled with that for weeks, sulked inconsolably, half convinced it was his fault, as though Sinnoh had put Brock off the concept of adventure.

"It's not what I did with Infernape, is it?" Ash asked him one day, studying his newest scars.

Brock shook his head with such force he felt like it'd fall off. "No! No, not at all. Ash, what you did with Infernape– it was _amazing._ You made him… more than he could've ever been with Paul. It was incredible. _You_ _**are**_ incredible."

Ash smiled at that, small and sad but relieved, and he didn't bring up Brock's refusal to follow him to Unova until he was at the airport.

"You sure you aren't coming?" he breathed, eyes wide and hopeful, as though Brock had changed his mind. When Brock gently declined the offer, his face fell, but he put on a brave front and crushed him in a hug so tight Brock thought his ribs would fracture under the pressure.

"I'm gonna miss you, big guy," he said quietly. Ash nodded into his shirt. "Try not to get killed without me, okay?"

Ash laughed, a wet, hiccuping sound, like he was trying hold back tears. "Yeah," he said. "I'd never leave you out of something like that."

"I'm glad," Brock said dryly, prompting another pained laugh. "Now go, else you'll miss your flight."

Ash nodded, wiping at his face, and after one last squeeze, he dashed off to board the plane. Brock didn't look away until he'd disappeared round the corner.

/

Ash called after a mere five days. The videophone lit up blue, ringing in a high, insistent, repetitive tone until Brock decided that his dissertation wasn't as important as shutting it up and answered.

"Hey, Brock!" Ash greeted, tone effervescent. He sounded more like the kid Brock remembered agreeing to follow halfway across the world, smile as bright as the sun.

"Ash, it's 11 pm." Brock said, as if he minded.

"Sorry! I keep forgetting that you're behind me." Ash had the decency to look apologetic. "I just wanted to see you, is all."

"Don't worry about it; I'm glad you called. I needed a break from my essay, anyway."

"Oh, phew. Essays suck."

"They sure do," Brock agreed, leaning back in his chair. "How's Unova? Any cool pokémon?"

Ash's eyes lit up, brimming with a familiar passion. "Man, you wouldn't even _believe!_ I already caught three!"

"You work fast," Brock laughed.

"Uh-huh! I caught one today, even. Tepig–" Ash scratched the side of his face and Brock realised, abruptly, that he was sheepish. "C'mere, come say hi to Brock!"

A small pokémon — Tepig, Brock presumed — poked his head into view, peering at the videophone screen. Brock gaped at the still-raw rope marks around his snout, then at Ash, jaw tightening.

"What happened to it?"

"He… was abandoned by his trainer. For being too weak," Ash admitted. Tepig oinked mournfully, prompting the boy to rub gently behind his ears. "But he was _wrong._ Tepig's a real fighter, I can feel it! He's gonna do so great… he just needs a few good meals and he'll be fine."

"Ash–"

"Yeah, I know, I know. Another abandoned fire type." Tepig snuffled questioningly. "But I think I know what I'm doing now. And Tepig doesn't seem like the others! He was just scared at first, is all."

"Different baggage, eh?"

"I can handle it!"

Brock scratched his head. "I'm not so sure about that," he said wryly. "You know what they say– third time's the charm."

A slow grin spread across Ash's face and he ducked his head, petting Tepig affectionately. The piglet snorted happily, pushing against the boy and wiggling its rump.

"You want me to repeat the speech for old time's sake?"

"I'm good. I've got it memorised, anyway. Up here," he laughed, tapping his knuckles against his temples.

"I'm surprised your brain still works, what with all the damage it's taken."

"And all the times I've died." Ash's voice was deceptively casual, but Brock and Tepig still flinched. "The professor _did_ always say I have a thick skull, anyway."

"You're _incorrigible,"_ Brock breathed.

Ash brightened. "I dunno what that means, but it _sounds_ cool."

Brock rolled his eyes fondly, watching Ash pacify Tepig in silence.

"Where'd you find Tepig, anyway?" he asked eventually, hoping to maintain levity, but Ash immediately folded in on himself, eyes shuttering and shoulders tense with bitter memory.

"Oh, _that."_ The boy's expression soured, but he kept soothingly petting the fire type, whose ears drooped at the question. "Well, y'see, they've got these things called _fight clubs_ in Unova, and I was in one, and I was in the middle of a battle against this dewott, when an alarm went off, so we went outside, and…"

Ash's voice faded into white noise. His arms moved emphatically, hands shaping the story more than his words ever could, but Brock nodded along attentively anyway.

It occurred to him that he missed this, the chaos and the excitement of never knowing what would come next. Close brushes with death be damned, there was something special about Ash, something that made travelling alongside him a privilege.

"… and then Iris — she's the one who told me about fight clubs — scared Tepig off, but I managed to corner him and get those ropes off him. He was able to eat, then, _and_ he let me clean him up, since he was _covered_ in dirt." Ash wrinkled his nose. "Don George said–" he covered Tepig's ears– "Don George said he thinks Tepig's old trainer does this sort of thing all the time, but they can't do anything about it because there's no 'concrete evidence'."

Brock hummed sympathetically. "That's awful!"

"I _know!_ Anyway, then Team Rocket came outta nowhere and got involved, and they tried to take Pikachu–"

"As usual," Brock muttered.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, it wasn't anything special, just a regular ambush. But what _was_ special was how _Tepig_ here managed to save Pikachu all by himself!" He beamed at the piglet, who snuffled bashfully. "Nah, don't be like that! You were _awesome._ Anyway, Iris was gonna catch him after that, 'cause who _wouldn't_ want a pokémon like that on their team? But Tepig said he wanted to go with me, and I wasn't gonna pass _that_ up, so here we are! And we're gonna go all the way to the league together."

"You're going all the way to the league again?" Brock said, as though it was a question that needed to be asked, as though Ash would ever say anything but yes.

But Ash just shrugged. "Yeah, of course. But– I mean– I'm gonna try to do my best, 'cause my pokémon deserve it, but it's not… it's not the end of the world if I don't win, y'know? It's just– in Sinnoh, it was like winning was all that mattered to me. I wanted to get all eight badges, beat Paul in a full battle, and win the league. And… that was all I could think about, like I was going crazy! 'Specially towards the end. I felt like it was the only thing I ever wanted, and that nothing else was even worth thinkin' about. And I don't wanna do that again."

Brock thought about how Ash had looked in Sinnoh, haunted eyes and a perpetually clenched jaw. Driven and calculated, thinking about battle no matter what he was doing. "Yeah, I know what you mean," he agreed. Sinnoh had drained Ash of his enthusiasm and high spirits and turned him into someone else. "You look a lot more relaxed now you're in Unova."

"I _feel_ more relaxed!" Ash laughed and stretched his arms above his head. "Unova's gonna be great, I can feel it. And with pokémon like Tepig by my side, how can I go wrong?"

Brock looked at Tepig, _really_ looked, and shook his head. "I don't think you can," he said, snorting at Ash's surprise. "I think you'll be good for each other. Call it… a doctor's intuition."

"Oh, right, 'cause you're an _intellectual_ now."

"I'm impressed you even know what an _intellectual_ is. I'm impressed you can even _say_ intellectual."

"Shut up!" Ash laughed, and they both grinned. "… you really think Tepig and me are good for each other? You're not just saying it 'cause you know you can't stop me?"

"I mean it," Brock promised. Ash relaxed, slumping with a relieved sigh. "Besides, you've never given me a reason to doubt you. Not with Charizard, and definitely not with Infernape. Okay, maybe a _little_ with Charizard–"

"Hey!"

"– but you pulled through in the end. If any trainer can bring out Tepig's true potential, it's you. And I'll be watching for you at the league."

"Oh man, don't you know it! Me and Tepig are gonna be the best ever, just you wait! Right, Tepig?"

"Pig!" Tepig enthused.

(Ash didn't call again for a long time, but Brock wasn't worried. He knew they'd all be fine without him.)

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**A/N:** Reviews/comments are always appreciated! I try to take all constructive criticism into account so I can improve any future writing I do. :)


	4. Epilogue

**A/N: **I know this is 2 updates in 1 day, but I already had this planned out, so writing it was a bit easier than writing the others, since they didn't have such tight plans (and this is half the length of a normal chapter). But this marks the end of this fic! I hope it was fun to read — and now this is done, I can work on other things :)

\+ Tepilogue? Tepiglogue?

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**(_TEPIG_) EPILOGUE.**

"Brock!" Ash yells, sprinting down the dock. Brock's arms open to make room for him and he launches himself into the empty space, clinging like a young slakoth would to its mother. "I missed you! How long can you stay?"

"I missed you too, big guy," Brock laughs, ruffling Ash's hair. "I'm off for three weeks, so I'm not going anywhere for a while."

Ash's smile makes the late afternoon skies seem like broad daylight again. "Good," he says giddily, "'cause there's lots I wanna show you! And I'm gonna be challenging Castelia Gym soon, so I want you to be there for me."

"I wouldn't dream of missing it," Brock says genuinely.

"I hope not, 'cause I really want you to see my new team in action! Man, they've got such _fire_ in 'em. They're more pumped up than I am, sometimes! They really wanna do well."

The two begin the walk back up the dock towards Cilan and Iris, who hover side by side, expressions reserved but inquisitive.

"So," Ash begins conversationally, tugging at the hem of Brock's shirt, "didja bring 'em?"

"I sure did!" Brock stops for a moment to fumble with his bag, reaching into the side pocket and pulling two inactive poké balls out. Ash grabs for them eagerly, pulling them close to him. "What did you want them for?" he asks, though he has a nagging feeling that he already knows.

Ash just smiles beatifically, shrugging his shoulders. "You'll see," he says cryptically. "Just wait!"

Later, they sit on a hill overlooking Castelia City, watching the sun sink ever closer to the horizon. Brock's hands are occupied with cooking; Cilan, ever the little helper, hovers nearby, eager to add his own spin on an otherwise simple dish; Iris is elsewhere, impermanent and flitting from spot to spot, darting in and out of Brock's peripheral vision; and Ash is watching the ocean, eyes bright, Tepig nestled in his lap.

"Hey, Tepig," he says over the sea breeze. Brock's eyes dart to him questioningly. "There are some pokémon I really want you to meet."

_Oh. _Brock smiles to himself and returns to his pot, watching Cilan throw some herb he can't place the name of into his stew.

"For flavour," Cilan insists. "It really adds a little _spice,_ you know?"

Brock just shrugs and keeps on stirring.

Ash is standing now, two poké balls in hand. He presses the central buttons, causing them to unfurl to full size, then flicks the catch, releasing the pokémon inside in a burst of red light.

The larger of the two pokémon unfurls his wings, spewing a searing column of flames into the sky. The smaller beats his chest with fisted hands, yellow eyes burning like his fiery crown.

"Hey, Charizard, Infernape!" Ash calls. "There's no battle, cool it! I want you to say hi to Tepig–"

But when he looks down, Tepig is gone. He spins in a circle, searching the full expanse of the hill, and finds nothing.

"Tepig?" he asks, soft and perplexed. No answer. "Tepig!" he says, louder, and a timid oink draws his attention to a crop of shrubs a few metres away.

"Hey," he says, crouching, "Charizard and Infernape won't hurt ya. They're my friends, see?" As if to prove a point, Charizard licks a long stripe across Ash's face and hair, strangely mellow. Infernape widens his eyes, dropping low and nonthreatening.

"Y'know, Charizard and Infernape were abandoned by _their_ trainers too," Ash continues. Tepig's snout pokes through the leaves, but he doesn't come out. "Yeah! _Charizard's_ trainer even left him out in the rain, and Infernape's released him right in front of me! 'Course, they were only babies back then, just a lil' charmander and chimchar, just like you're only a tepig right now! But I knew they were gonna be strong, and boy was I right!"

Charizard snorts, puffing out his chest, and Ash scratches his scaly cheek affectionately.

"Yeah, you're really strong," he cooes, turning back to Tepig, whose eyes were now visible under the bushes. "I wanted you to meet them 'cause they're just like you, y'know? Super loyal, super brave, super kind pokémon who got dealt a real bad hand at first! But they picked me, and I picked them, so it's all okay now. I wanted you to meet 'em so you knew that just 'cause one lousy trainer thinks you're weak, it doesn't mean you can't prove him wrong. I took Charizard to fight all sorts of strong pokémon in all sorts of leagues, and Infernape even beat his old trainer in the Sinnoh league!"

Infernape chirps, pressing his hand into Ash's shoulder gently, fingers curling over the scar there, over bite marks left by his own teeth. Charizard drapes a wing over them both, watching Tepig curiously as he tentatively inches his way out of the shrubbery.

"You don't gotta be afraid of them," Ash urges. "They're with me, and you trust me, right? I've got you. I've always got you. We're gonna get stronger together — and if we reach the top, then that's just a bonus. I know you still miss your old trainer — Charizard did too, at first. And I know you're probably still afraid that I'm gonna realise you're weak and leave you too, just like your old trainer did, 'specially since I already have these two super strong fire types."

He takes a deep breath. Brock watches, fascinated, and it all clicks, all makes sense.

"But I'm not like your old trainer, and I'm not gonna leave you, just like I never left these guys. You can always count on me."

Tepig hurtles out of the bushes, up into the air and then into free fall, and Ash is there to catch him.

/

He stays out with Charizard and Infernape all night.

(Later, he takes on Castelia Gym alone and wins, though by the skin of his teeth, and he can hardly stand by the end. Ash is still there to catch him when he falls, and he finally realises he has a home.)

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**A/N: **Reviews/comments are always appreciated! I try to take all constructive criticism into account so I can improve any future writing I do. :)


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